ISLAND Energy’s insurance will not cover payments to customers who were left without gas for weeks, the utility company has confirmed – and Islanders will not know the details of any payout before the end of the year.
The company said that payments would be considered “goodwill”, rather than compensation – and would have to come out of the firm’s own pockets rather than from its insurer.
In a statement, an Island Energy spokesperson said: “We are still in the process of reviewing the effects of the supply disruption our customers experienced in October.
“One detail we have now confirmed with regards to our plans is that our insurance will not cover payments to customers.
“This is because there are no pre-agreed or pre-planned conditions for payments to customers when disruption occurs, and therefore any payment would be classified as a goodwill payment and not compensation.”
They added: “We are factoring this into our plans to understand the full impact to our business and will be able to provide more information to customers in the new year.
“We would ask that customers bear with us; we will inform them of our plans as soon as we are able.”
Thousands of Island Energy customers were left without gas from Saturday 7 October, and while some were reconnected from Friday 13 October, others still complained of being without gas three weeks later, with some left with no option but to take cold showers.
Later in October, Island Energy chief executive Jo Cox said domestic customers were “likely” to receive automatic compensation, while commercial customers’ payouts would be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.
